Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
343rd out of 1,227 books
—
3,012 voters
The Godmother
by
Carrie Adams
There's nothing tying her down . . . but maybe that's the problem.
Back from a five-week escape from her obsessive former boss (read: job over, phone number changed, doorman notified), Tessa King returns to London rested and ready to reclaim her life. She has endless possibilities, and a full social calendar with wonderful friends and godchildren who adore her.
But as Tessa...more
Back from a five-week escape from her obsessive former boss (read: job over, phone number changed, doorman notified), Tessa King returns to London rested and ready to reclaim her life. She has endless possibilities, and a full social calendar with wonderful friends and godchildren who adore her.
But as Tessa...more
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
September 18th 2007
by Harper
(first published 2006)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Tessa King -- involved with everyone else's lives and families. Not sure of her own place. After a yoga retreat in India recovering from a sexual harassment situation with a boss that left her without work (but plenty of money), Tessa's life and her friends' lives start spinning out of control. It was too much of a soap opera for me. And with so many story lines (Caspar 15 year old godson dabbling with drugs; his parent's Nick and Francesca's story of marital infidelity; Billy trying to raise he...more
On the surface, The Godmother has an essentially chick lit plot.Tessa King is so bogged down in the lives of her friends and her godchildren, she has no life of her own. Will she ever start living for herself? Will she ever find love? We all know the answer to that. However, this is not typical chick lit. At its core, it goes to a darker place; this is not the perky, everything's-perfect-by-the-end novel that is expected in chick lit. This is a strong novel disguised as chick lit. Although there...more
A chicklit that I enjoyed really. This is a story of Tessa who is involved in everyone’s life, try to solve everyone else’s problems be it her friends or her godchildren but has no clue what to do with her own life.
This book is humorous, a fun to read and serious at the same time. My favourite quotes from this book;
“She is opinionated, as most of us are, but you won’t find yourself impaled on her arguments; she doesn’t charge at you as some people do. What [she] does is walk slowly and steadily...more
This book is humorous, a fun to read and serious at the same time. My favourite quotes from this book;
“She is opinionated, as most of us are, but you won’t find yourself impaled on her arguments; she doesn’t charge at you as some people do. What [she] does is walk slowly and steadily...more
This is apparently a first novel, and it's one that's attractive because of its breezy style and sense (after a few chapters) that there are few places the author won't go. There is, for instance, a rather haunting and graphic depiction of the physical realities of a miscarriage. Chiefly, however, this is an exploration - in often humorous terms, I hasten to add - of a 'woman's issue' in which I have no particular vested interest, namely the sense of the romantic/biological clock ticking for an...more
Tessa King selalu bisa membawa diri dimana pun dia berada dan slalu melibatkan disetiap masalah orang lain,
Dia mempunyai sahabat, Fran yg menikah dengan Nick.(Yg teman kuliah), ada claudia - Al, Ben - Sasha, Billy
Fran yg memiliki 3 org anak yg smua nya anak baptis Tessa, Tessa melibatkan diri dalam masalah anak pertama Fran yg berumur 15 tahun...
Hedeeeh... Kehidupan cinta Tessa gaa berjalan mulus, akhirnya Tessa sadar bahwa dia sudah lamaa sudah menaruh hati ( ditaro dimana? ) Pada Ben sahabat...more
Dia mempunyai sahabat, Fran yg menikah dengan Nick.(Yg teman kuliah), ada claudia - Al, Ben - Sasha, Billy
Fran yg memiliki 3 org anak yg smua nya anak baptis Tessa, Tessa melibatkan diri dalam masalah anak pertama Fran yg berumur 15 tahun...
Hedeeeh... Kehidupan cinta Tessa gaa berjalan mulus, akhirnya Tessa sadar bahwa dia sudah lamaa sudah menaruh hati ( ditaro dimana? ) Pada Ben sahabat...more
This was another book that took me forever to read. Not that there was anything wrong with this book at all or the girl (except for the hanging on-ness that she had with an old friend of hers who is currently married. It’s like, get over it! Move on! Granted, I am one to talk. I don’t allow myself to get roped into anyone so I have no one to get over when it eventually (because it always does) fail). Anyhoodle! I actually kind of liked this book. Interesting array of characters and I liked the G...more
There were definitely parts of this book that I enjoyed more than others - overall, I'd say it was a mixed bag that tended more to the positive side of the spectrum. Tessa is the main character, and wow, does she know how to make mistakes. Some are small, some are huge and some are just dumb. At the beginning of the book, I wanted to slap my forehead at Tess's stupidity, thinking to myself "how can someone not have learned from that the first time?" Fortunately, as the book continued, she starte...more
I really do love British wit, so it was fun to read chick lit infused with British humor/partying. The premise is that a successful female lawyer nearing 40 has 7 best friends and 4 godchildren. She's in a life transition because her boss was stalking her, so she's just returned from a yoga retreat in India. Now does she want to get married and start a family? Ah, the biological clock.
It kicks off with Tessa getting picked up from the airport by her best friend's husband and her 16-year-old gods...more
It kicks off with Tessa getting picked up from the airport by her best friend's husband and her 16-year-old gods...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up thinking it would be a fun, British-wit, chick-lit read and got more than I was expecting, with a variety of plots and some heavy issues. Best of all, they weren't resolved all nice and neat, which gave it a good twist if you ask me. It left me wanting to find out more about what happened to the main character. Having gone through infertility/miscarriage, I thought that plot line was handled VERY well and in a very realistic manner. Not all infertility...more
This book was recommended to me and, all-in-all, I liked it. Nothing too earth shattering, but it was an interesting take on the "grass is greener" concept. Tessa King, an attorney in London, starts the book by returning from a five week vacation in India. Due to a mental breakdown of her boss, being stalked and harassed, she needed to get away. She's back and ready to be a part of her rather large group of friends and godchildren.
Caspar, Cora and twins, Bobby and Tommy -- her godchildren, are d...more
Caspar, Cora and twins, Bobby and Tommy -- her godchildren, are d...more
Jun 17, 2011
Helen
added it
When you first start this book it is definitely a 'beach read'. I did list it as a light-read. But I must say that as you get further into the book it has its moments. The description of a miscarriage of a preganancy was very well-done. Did not toss it off lightly but gave a very moving, real-to-life feel to what she wrote. As you move farther into the book it has its other moments. I don't know if I would tell anyone to rush out and buy the book (there were many times I rolled my eyes at the ty...more
Great book!! The main character is very easy to relate to if you are a single woman in your 30s who still likes to party, and is surrounded by friends who are married or having kids (which happens to be me).
I really enjoyed this. So many well defined characters. So much plot. Seriously. How many story lines does one book need? (Warning: one of those story lines would be very hard for anyone who has struggled with infertility or miscarriage.) I did have a problem with the sheer amount of foreshadowing. I think this was the author's first novel? Maybe next time she won't feel the need to end every single chapter with "If only I had known how much worse things were going to get...." or some other dire...more
I enjoyed the main character's sense of humor (as well as the author's- throughout the book her quick wit did indeed make me laugh) but overall, the book wasn't well constructed. It almost read like a soap opera; fast paced and juicy with gossip but shamefully trashy at the same time.
The novel just didn't do it for me. The overall concept of existing as a woman with a slew of godchildren but no children of her own could have actually been very endearing and well executed; however, the book just...more
The novel just didn't do it for me. The overall concept of existing as a woman with a slew of godchildren but no children of her own could have actually been very endearing and well executed; however, the book just...more
I enjoyed this book more now than I think I would have if I had read it when I was younger, because as a woman in my 30's who's not married and has no kids but has friends with kids, I could relate to Tessa King. She just wants what's best for her friends...in her eyes. The book was an eye-opener in some ways and also heart-wrenching in other ways. Even though I knew something was going to happen to one of her friends because it said so on the back cover, I was still shocked at the one it happen...more
I only made it through the first hundred or so pages, and it seriously made me want to want to dropkick a puppy. I'm probably not going to finish this book.
I don't usually read these chick lit books, but I got caught by the cover "Tessa King has 7 best friends, 4 godchildren, and 1 big wish--to have a life of her own" and was intrigued enough to check it out. I read it in a few hours; it had a very lively plot, enjoyable (if rather overimpulsive) heroine, and a very interesting cast of characters/friends, ranging from humorous to truly disastrous. They definitely kept me going, and I liked the way the heroine wasn't all good, had some major flaws,...more
Always the godmother, never the. . . you get the picture. Godmother to four, Tessa King wants something more: namely, marriage and children of her own. Unfortunately, her legal career and partying have also been important to her.
Now in her thirties, Tessa wants what all of her friends already have, and she is suffering from a severe case of envy. But as she will find out, none of her friends have a perfect marriage. Or perfect children.
I have mixed feelings about this novel. First, the cover ma...more
Now in her thirties, Tessa wants what all of her friends already have, and she is suffering from a severe case of envy. But as she will find out, none of her friends have a perfect marriage. Or perfect children.
I have mixed feelings about this novel. First, the cover ma...more
Tessa King is a 30-something single woman who has just returned to London after a hiatus in India. Her reason for the escape was to recover from an unfortunate stalking incident involved her married ex-boss. Tessa is returning home, jobless, to a life crowded with 30-something friends and their children. With countless best friends and many godchildren, Tessa prides herself on being the friend/godmother who is "there" in times of need or crisis, often neglecting her own endeavors as a result. Wh...more
Not too bad, but dang it went on forever! The main character, Tessa, had too many friends to keep track of--part of the point of the book, I realize, but the author could have easily dropped one friend/godchild/crisis combo. I find some books don't realistically populate a protagonist's world, giving them only one or two friends, but this book went overkill in the other direction.
Of course in the end, our heroine learns some lessons about herself in dealing with her friends' problems. Another go...more
Of course in the end, our heroine learns some lessons about herself in dealing with her friends' problems. Another go...more
Tessa is on the far end of her mid-30's, single, and envious of the lives of her friends, who are all married and/or have children. She is godmother to seven of her children's friends, and loves them all to pieces. This book was very well written- Tessa was speaking my words a lot of the time, and it was nice to know someone out there (thank you, Ms. Adams) has walked in my shoes, or at least knows what they feel like. This wasn't a fairytale book, and I appreciate that. It may not ring true for...more
Pretty standard chick-lit here. I enjoyed the author's voice and style. There were definitely times when I wanted to shake the protagonist. Or punch her in the face. Not the best thing I've read, not the worse.
The plot lines are more realistic than most chick-lit. One particular line is difficult to read through, and I haven't even gone through a miscarriage. I would typically think that the devotion to other peoples' children was a bit odd, but Adams convinced me that it was natural and general...more
The plot lines are more realistic than most chick-lit. One particular line is difficult to read through, and I haven't even gone through a miscarriage. I would typically think that the devotion to other peoples' children was a bit odd, but Adams convinced me that it was natural and general...more
I did like this book because it strayed from the regular "once upon a time there were 4 girls who were looking for love" and went to the next steps with friends with troubled teenagers, cheap exs and infertility. Tessa, the main character, became a little gratting towards the end but she truly was genuine friend to the cast of characters in this book. The advice from Sasha on starting a family is rock solid and the care that she gives to her friend Claudia is one of the most heartrending moments...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I tore through this book. I picked it up from the bargain shelf, and did not expect to adore it as I did. The Godmother, like many British chick-lit books, covers many plots and many different relationships. There were a few loose ends (a character dropped early on, another one who was less important than initially implied), but overall this was an engaging quick paced story, with well thought out characterization.
Perfect for fans of British chick-lit (which I've come to realize is quite differ...more
Perfect for fans of British chick-lit (which I've come to realize is quite differ...more
Once again, I've read companion books out of order. I wouldn't consider The Godmother and The Stepmother a series, but more of a companion to each other. Both feature Tessa King. I found this to be not as well done as The Stepmother, and didn't enjoy it as much, perhaps because I knew what was coming in Tessa's life. This focuses on Tessa's friendships and her role as the godmother to her four godchildren and how she meddles and fixes her friends problems.
One thing which bugged me was how the n...more
One thing which bugged me was how the n...more
Plenty of potential in this book, but you could almost feel the setup for TRAGEDY from the first page. The characterizations are uneven... it's almost as if Adams really wants to TELL US A STORY WITH A LESSON, but there's so much backstory to tell to make the story make any sense, that it's like she wrote the story, then went back and added STUFF to 'make it work' but it just doesn't. I felt let down, not because of the resolution, but because it felt so pre-fab. "I will write a book about the g...more
To say that I identified with Tessa is almost an understatement. I too have felt like I was standing still as everyone's lives around me progressed. To better jobs, to husbands, to children. I've watched my friendships morph and change, sometimes for good and sometimes not. I've looked into the eyes of my own godchildren and wondered, wished, hoped and prayed a million things.
This was not the chick-lit book I was expecting, and I'm so happy I finally picked this up to read. This was so much more...more
This was not the chick-lit book I was expecting, and I'm so happy I finally picked this up to read. This was so much more...more
Actually, make that 2.5 stars. I made a lot of assumptions about the character at the beginning of the novel for some reason -- and they were strange assumptions, I have no idea what led me to think these things -- so that colored my reading, as I spent much of the novel revising those assumptions. Decent writing, though it could've used better editing, but much of the plot had a "been there, done that" feel to it (My Best Friend's Wedding, anyone?). Not normally a genre I enjoy, but this wasn't...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Contemporary fiction writer. Previously wrote four crime novels under the name Gay Longworth.
More about Carrie Adams...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“As I have learned over the years, your friends don’t change; you just learn to ignore or embrace the bad bits.”
—
30 people liked it
“I had always wanted to go down that path at some point, I just hadn’t met anyone to go down it with. which begged another question: why hadn’t I? What was wrong with me? Oh yes, I knew exactly what I was crying about. It was the fear of being a last resort. Of missing out. And not just on one Saturday night of partying with people I didn’t know. On life. The life that everyone else seemed to find so easy to have.”
—
27 people liked it
More quotes…
Jul 25, 2010 08:19am